Shows / Stories from the Center of the Universe
Episodes
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 272: Lane Casadonte
Pictured - Ernie Johnson (left) and Lane (right) Lane Casadonte was born in upstate New York, but considers Richmond home. A lot of you know Lane by sight or…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 271: Brice Fritts
Brice Fritts is the Head Football Coach at J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico County, Virginia. Paul and Brice talked about growing up and playing several…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 270: Lyndsey Hodgkins
Lyndsey Hodgkins is from Redding, Pennsylvania, grew up with two brothers and a sister and had a childhood that included riding bikes and spending a lot of…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 269: Frank Shamrock
Frank Shamrock, the former UFC Champion and #1 ranked pound for pound fighter in the world joins Paul on the podcast. Frank told Paul about his tumultuous…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 268: J. R. Wilburn
JR Wilburn is from Portsmouth, Virginia where his dad worked in the navy yards. He had a lot of friends in the neighborhood playing sports for much of his…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 267: Eddie Webb
Eddie Webb and Paul first met in September of 2023 when Eddie was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Patrick Henry HS Hall of Fame. Eddie moved to…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 266: Carroll LaHaye
Carroll LaHaye is a legendary basketball coach amassing 647 wins during her coaching career at Randolph Macon College. Carroll was born in and mostly grew up…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 265: Dustin Ingle
Dustin Ingle was born in Arkansas, but grew up in Texas. Dustin and Paul spoke about growing up in the Fort Worth area of Texas and playing all the sports…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 264: Debra and Steve Hall
Debra & Steve Hall join Paul on the podcast because Bobby Malone (Episode 150) has the pleasure of being Debra’s brother! Steve and Debra talked to Paul about…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 263: Wayne Elliott
Wayne Elliott joins the podcast via a connection with Bobby Malone (Episode 150). Wayne and Bobby knew each other from the time when they worked at Reynold’s…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 262: Chris Gaskell
Chris Gaskell joins Paul on Stories via knowing Stu Brown (Episode #257). Chris is from the Hampton, VA area and grew up playing sports and working with his…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 261: Tyler Owens Pt 2
In Part Two of a now Three Part Series, Paul talks to Tyler Owens. They began Part Two by discussing what changed his mind to enter the military and joining…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 260: Hamill Jones
Hamill Jones is the Head Basketball Coach and Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at St. Christopher’s (StC) in Richmond, Virginia. The first thing that…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 259: Rabbi Sherry Grinsteiner
Rabbi Sherry Grinsteiner joins Paul via a connection through Ben Ipson (Episode 252). They first spoke about how Rabbi Sherry recently delivered the…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 258: Dr. Tony Crisp
Dr. Tony Crisp is a pastor, an educator and a leading authority on Israel. Tony and his two brothers were raised in eastern Tennessee by their grandmother…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 257: Stu Brown
Stu Brown joins the podcast courtesy of knowing the former Occasional Co-Host, Kevin Flippen who also joined the podcast. Stu was born in Hurt, Virginia and…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 256: Jeff Tiegs part 2
Jeff is back for round 2 to chat about Skull Games and his recently published book “Where Have All The Heroes Gone?” Jeff has enabled a useful learning…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 255: Earl Kinney
Earl Kinney had a busy time moving around in his first twelve years. He was born in West Virginia, moved to Richmond when he was six then went to New York City…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 254: Tyler Owens
Tyler Owens grew up in Georgia and he and Paul talked about youth sports and how he dabbled in many, but settled on football. He talked about how he started…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 253: Rich Dalton part 3
Rich Dalton joins the podcast for Part 3. Paul started off by talking about and thanking Rich for the guests that he has referred to the podcast. They did a…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 252: Ben Ipson
Ben Ipson joins Paul through a connection with Mark Jenkins (Episodes 239 & 245.) Ben told the incredible story of his family who survived the Holocaust. He…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 251: Ron Lazzeretti
Ron Lazzeretti is a singer, song writer, writer, film maker and commercial director. Ron is from and lives in the Chicago area and grew up in an Italian family…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 250: Sonja Fridy Kinney
Sonja Kinney joins the podcast for the second time, this time for a full episode. The first time Sonja was on for a short interview when she was inducted into…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 249: Dr. Earl Wright, II
Dr. Earl Wright II, Sociology Professor at Rhodes College, grew up in north Memphis in a single parent household. In his early years Dr. Wright didn’t have an…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 248: Jim Malaugh
Jim Malaugh is Jamie Malaugh’s (Episode 59) dad and is visiting Richmond from Alabama. Jim was born in Northern Ireland. He also lived in England and Scotland…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 247: Chris Harper
Chris Harper joins Paul via a connection with Andrew Mauck (Episode 11). Chris and Paul talked about his early life which included two separate incidents where…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 246: Joey Beltran
Joey Beltran comes to the podcast via a connection with Rich Dalton (Episodes 220 & 232). Joey grew up in Carlsbad, CA and told Paul that his dream as a kid…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 245: Mark Jenkins Part 2
Mark Jenkins returns for his second episode to continue to talk about Israel. Paul brought up that this is the first time Israel has declared a state of war…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 244: Vern Glenn
Vern Glenn was born and grew up in Richmond, Va. and went to St. Christopher’s like Paul. They talked about growing up, attending St. Chris, playing sports and…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 243: Jeff Tiegs
Jeff Tiegs is from a small town in Wisconsin and was in the U.S. Army Special Forces. Jeff was a reader from an early age, played all the sports early and then…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 242: Eric Doe
Eric Doe joins the podcast via a recent guest, Clint Pearman. Eric is Clint’s nephew and Eric said that Uncle Clint has always had a big influence on him. Eric…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 241: Dr. Clint Pearman
With Veterans Day a few days away, we wanted to share the stories of more military veterans. Dr. Clint Pearman is the first of three veterans we’ve spoken to…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 240: Mike Henry
Mike Henry is most well known for being a voice actor on the Family Guy series and The Cleveland Show. He has voiced many characters and is an actor, comedian…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 239: Mark Jenkins
Mark Jenkins comes on the podcast at an opportune time, but we’ll come back to that. Mark, who grew up in the Richmond area, is a pastor at Berea Baptist…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 238: Professor Ed Wallace
Dr. Ed Wallace joins the podcast via a connection with Njeri Kershaw (Episode 39). Ed was born in the Bronx, NY and grew up there. He was born into a family…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 237: Nick Wisner
Nick Wisner and Paul work together and Paul opened up about how Nick had an impact on him recently. They discussed Nick being born in Chesterfield, but going…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 236: Patrick Henry HS Hall of Fame
This episode sets a record for number of guests in one recording! Paul attended the inaugural Patrick Henry High School Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet. Paul…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 235: Michael Reynolds
Michael Reynolds joins the podcast via a connection with Andrew Ting (Episode 40.) Michael was born in Nebraska and grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota which…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 234: Chris Karpes
Chris Karpes lives in New Orleans and he and Paul met about six weeks ago. Chris was born in Tacoma, Washington, but grew up in Canada and was about thirty…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 233: Mid-Atlantic Railroad Park
In the last Downtown Ashland Association Series episode of Season 3, Paul talks with Carolyn Hemphill, Betsy Hodges and Tom Wulf about the Mid-Atlantic…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 232: Rich Dalton - Part 2
Paul brings back Rich Dalton for Part 2 of a three part series. They completed a quick recap of Part 1 and then discussed life after the Marine Corps. Rich…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 231: Colette and Tom Miranda (Ashland Dance Academy and 110 Thompson)
Paul talks to Collette and Tom Miranda for another Downtown Ashland Association episode. They are the owners of The Ashland Dance Academy and 110 Thompson…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 230: Tom Greco returns
Tom Greco is back (episodes 4 and 215) and he's still thinking about starting his own podcast. For this second installment, he joins Stories to talk about how…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 229: Courtney Caldwell - Ashland Movie Theatre - DAA
In the latest Downtown Ashland Association episode, Paul talks to Courtney Caldwell. Courtney was involved in Round 1 of the DAA episodes because she hosted us…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 228: Bill Gatewood - DAA
Bill Gatewood joins Paul for a Downtown Ashland Association episode. Bill and Paul talked about how he got involved with the organization which led a…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 227: Carlene Bass
Carlene Bass has lived in Ashland for 87 of her almost 90 years on this earth! Her Dad, a traveling salesman (and a great gardener,) moved the family from…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 226: Barclay DuPriest
Ashland Icon Barclay DuPriest joins the podcast. Barclay was born in Richmond, but grew up on a farm in Burkeville, Virginia. She told stories about the farm…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 225: Jeremy D. Simmons
Jeremy Simmons comes to the podcast courtesy of Helen Emerson (Episode 205). Paul met Jeremy at Jeremy’s studio in Richmond where Jeremy plays and produces…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 224: Kate Chenery Tweedy
Kate Chenery Tweedy, cousin of Silent Rob, joins the podcast to discuss Secretariat for Virginia and her story. Kate’s mom was Penny Chenery who was the force…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 223: Reflections on Episodes 151-220
Paul and Rob take a look back at a larger grouping than in the past .. Episodes 151-220.
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 222: Teresa Lopez de Ocanas
In the third installment of the Downtown Ashland Association series, Paul welcomes Teresa Lopez De Ocanas to the podcast. Teresa, her husband, Edgar, and their…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 221: Erika Johnson
Erika Johnson lived in the east end of Henrico and then her family moved to Hanover when she was in elementary school. Erika and Paul know each other from…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 220: Rich Dalton - Part 1
In the first installment of a 3 part series, Rich Dalton joins Paul to tell his story. They talked about growing up across the east coast, losing his dad at an…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 219: Don Willis
Don Willis and Paul haven’t seen each in a while, but had a great time catching up and hearing Don’s story. They talked about serving in the National Guard…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 218: Tom Guo
He was born in the Kingdom of Lesotho, raised in South Africa and came to the United States to go to high school in Connecticut. Tom Guo joins the podcast to…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 217: Manoli Loupassi
Manoli Loupassi joins Paul and they talked about high school at St. Christopher’s, Manoli’s dad, college and law school and his time as a radio sports show…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 216: Jason Wells
Jason Wells joins the podcast to talk about Mechanics of Faith. Before that, Paul and Jason spoke about him growing up in Hanover, extreme sports and his early…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 215: Tom Greco starts a podcast (TG#1)
Tom Greco is back (episode 4) and he's thinking about starting his own podcast. For his initial episode, he joins Stories to talk about how NBA basketball…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 214: Chris Freemott
Chris Freemott joins the podcast from Chicagoland. They discussed Chris’ favorite sports teams and that led to a discussion about Chicago politics and why…
Stories from the Center of the UniverseEpisode 213: Carrie Allen
Carrie Allen was born in Louisville and moved to Richmond when she was ten. She attended a Catholic private high school that doesn’t exist anymore and went to…